


The Knight

by Batesk7551



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Merlin is sassy, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Vigilante AU, the cliche kills me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 09:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10185815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batesk7551/pseuds/Batesk7551
Summary: Not beta'd, lemme know if there are any glaring mistakes!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd, lemme know if there are any glaring mistakes!

Merlin isn’t sure exactly why he thought this was a good idea, but it’s not and he regrets everything.

Sure, it was a beautifully dramatic exit, and Arthur had looked just a tad bit miserable as Merlin had slammed the door behind him, but it was  _ freezing _ out here. 

Why didn’t occur to him to just slam the door to their bedroom and curl up in bed with the blankets? They even had a lock on the door, unlike Merlin’s childhood bedroom. He could have had the bed all to himself for the night and banished Arthur to the lumpy couch.

Instead, he’s out here, developing frostbite on his nose, and just as a bonus, he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the neighborhood a good few blocks over. It was poorly lit, dirty, and worse, the streets had seen a rise in crime with the arrival of the Bayard family. 

In the two years he’d been here, there had been several street shootings and quite a few muggings. 

Arthur had moved to London a month or two later. When Merlin had meet Arthur, the blonde had been utterly horrified to learn that Merlin lived so close to an area so high in crime. A few months into their relationship, Arthur had attempted to persuade Merlin into moving into Arthur’s apartment.

It was a nice apartment, Merlin could admit, swanky and fancy in a way that nothing of Merlin’s has ever been, but Merlin had occupied his own tiny apartment since moving out of his mother’s place. It had taken some time, but eventually Merlin had bullied Arthur into his tiny home, where everything was warm and cozy and safe . . . .

Unlike this neighborhood. 

Merlin sighs. It would be stupid to stay here for the sake of his own pride. He wasn’t Arthur; he could admit defeat. 

He turns around and starts the walk back. He passes a streetlamp that illuminates the dirty, gum-ridden sidewalks. There’s a piece of paper on it, wrinkled from last night’s rain. It’s a wanted poster for one of those superheroes that have been flying around lately.

They were officially termed vigilantes, running, or in some cases, flying about all over the place taking justice into their own hands. Most people in London liked them; they had saved more than a few people from incidents like the Bayards caused, but the authorities were not so pleased.

This particular poster was for ‘The Knight’, a vigilante that took to the streets at night in armour, a mask, and a sword - a real one. He was usually seen with a small group of five other members, similarly dressed. Their masks were all red.

Merlin had never seen any of them in person, only catching shakey-phone camera glimpses on the evening news

He sure wishes he had one of them with him now. The street is silent, except for his own footsteps and the soft, muttered conversation between two people hanging out in front of an apartment door a few meters behind him. It’s eery.

He’s walking past a little alley in between buildings, stomach tightening in nervousness. It’s only 3 meters across but he feels like any moment now something will jump out of the shadows.

He passes the alley without incident and laughs at himself for his own cowardliness. The next time he approaches an alley, he keeps himself relaxed, telling himself,  _ there’s nothing there, don’t be a scaredy-cat. _

It’s so predictable, then, that he gets yanked roughly into the alley, stumbling over himself as he’s pulled off balance.

There’s a calloused hand covering his mouth, preventing his screech from escaping. He’s being held from behind, an arm pressing down threateningly on his throat. There’s not enough pressure to choke him yet, but any struggle would likely result in bruises tomorrow morning - 

Provided, of course, that he was still alive tomorrow morning.

“Wallet.” Hot breath blows in his ear. The voice is gritty, like whoever it is smokes heavily,  and unfamiliar. “Now!”

“O-okay!” Merlin says, holding his hands up placatingly. “Well, actually, I don’t really have it with me. I think I might have change in my pocket, though?” He offers, voice surprisingly steady after his initial stutter.

“Don’t lie, boy, or I’ll choke you out and leave you here for the crows to feast on overnight.”

“That’s . . . actually kind of disgusting, do crows even eat human flesh?” Merlin asks. He wishes he could take the words back immediately. Arthur would be telling him he’s an utter idiot if he were here right now. “Sorry, sorry, um. I seriously don’t have it. You can check my pockets, if you want.”

A rough hand shoves into the right pocket of his thin, ratty sweater, then moves on to the next one. When the man finds nothing, he goes lower to Merlin’s trouser pockets.

Merlin grimaces. That’s a bit close for comfort.

As he’d said, there’s a crumpled note in Merlin’s pocket. It’s just a fiver. 

He’s shoved away from the man behind him. Merlin breathes a sigh of relief.

“Okay, so you can just take that and I’ll -”

“You’re not going anywhere.” The man blocks the exit to the alley. There’s dull orange light filtering through, but the man’s back is to it; Merlin can’t make out any features. “If you can’t pay me in money, you can put that mouth of yours to better use than running constantly like a five year old’s.”

Merlin pales. “I - what?”

“You heard me! Get on your knees, boy.”

Merlin can’t move. 

He thinks about launching himself at the man and ducking to the side to get out of the alley, or throwing a punch, or screaming, or any other number of things he could try to do to get out of this situation. 

But this is not the place where screaming will get attention, except to encourage people to lock their doors and pretend there’s nothing outside to stick their noses into, and Merlin couldn’t hurt a fly even if he was trying to, and he’d never in his life been quick over clumsy; trying to run would just result in falling on his face.

“Are you stupid? I said, get down on your fucking kne-”

“I think you’ll find it in your best interests to fuck off.”

The man who grabbed Merlin turns around slowly. As he moves, Merlin catches the glint of metal off of a long, sharpened blade. It’s pointed at Merlin’s would-be mugger’s chest.

“Who - who the hell do you think you are?” The man says, affecting bravery. His voice wobbles, though. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Merlin cheers inwardly at the quake in his voice - take that, stupid cabbagehead!

“I’ve been called a few things. You’ll know me best as the Knight - and yes, I can see exactly how busy you are.” The sword lifts up to point at the mugger’s face. “And if you have even a speck of intelligence, you’ll leave. Now.”

“I - you can’t - o-okay!” The man squeaks as the sword nears an eyeball. Within seconds, the man is scampering off, terrified.

“Moron,” the Knight says, looking after the mugger. “Did he really think I was just going to let him go?” He shakes his head. “There are six of us, why are they always stupid enough to think they can actually escape?”

Merlin frowns, stepping forward to the mouth of the alley. He faces his savior.

“As for you - are you an  _ utter _ idiot?” The man asks. “Why the hell are you out here?”

Merlin blinks, once, twice, three times - “Well, I could ask the same question of you, clotpole!”

“Huh?” The man says eloquently. 

“Arthur!” Merlin exclaims, angry. “Is that? It is!”

“Shh!” Arthur hisses. “Shut up!”

Merlin finds himself dragged into the alley for a second time that night. 

“How the hell did you guess who I was?!” Arthur whispers.

“Are you joking? Do I look like an idiot?” Merlin thinks about Arthur in the light. The mask, up close and without the grainy film of a poor camera, does little to conceal the strong shape of Arthur’s jaw and nose. It doesn’t cover his blonde hair, either, or his mouth, and Merlin has only ever seen that beautiful blue color in the eyes of one person.

His boyfriend of over a year and a half.

“You could not be more obvious!”

Merlin can’t see it, but he’s sure Arthur is wearing an offended glare. “I’ve got a mask!”

“It’s a piss poor one! And besides that, I could recognize your stupid posh voice any day.” Merlin states.

There’s a pause before Arthur finally says, miffed, “You’re still an idiot for being out here.”

“I’m the idiot? Me?! You’re running around all night in - what is that, honest-to-God full-body metal armour?” Merlin’s rage increases when he realizes, “You’ve been doing this for months! Risking your life like a - a - sniveling toad!”

He’s yelling by the time he gets to the end of it. It’s then that he realizes he’s trembling.

“Merlin?” Arthur steps in closer, pulling Merlin into an embrace. “Are you upset I didn’t tell you? I’m sorry, darling, I didn’t know how to, exactly. Please don’t - no, don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying!” Merlin sniffles. “And yes, I’m terribly mad at you for keeping this secret, but I’m even more angry because you -  christ, what were you thinking? You do realize metal armour doesn’t stand well against bullets?” He raps his knuckles on Arthur’s plated chest, letting his newfound fear leak into his voice.

“Yes, Merlin, obviously, I realize that. “ Arthur grips him by the shoulders and holds him back so that there’s space between them. “I’m wearing kevlar underneath.”

Merlin scowls. “But you’re still risking your life -”

“Of course I am!” Arthur says. “It’s dangerous out here, people were getting hurt on a nearly daily basis!  _ You _ could have been one of them - in fact, it’s a miracle you haven’t gotten into trouble before tonight.”

“And you thought it was your job to do the protecting?” Merlin ignores Arthur's miracle comment.

Arthur shrugs. “Yes.”

Incredulous, Merlin laughs. “Of course. Why do I have such an idiot for a boyfriend?”

“You love me,” Arthur says.

“Well, yes,” Merlin allows. “God knows why.”

“Shut up,  _ Mer _ -lin.” Arthur turns him around. “Now, come on, let’s get home.”

“Alright.” Merlin steals a quick kiss, anger forgotten.

“Hey, Arthur?” Merlin whispers.

“Yes, darling?”

“How the hell did you manage to keep this from me in the first place? And for that matter, how does no one else recognize you? All of your friends . . .surely someone would  know  - wait a second, do they already know?! Gwaine and Percival and Lance and Elyan - I bet you even pulled Leon into it! Arthur!” 

A smack rings out into the night. 

“Am I the only one that didn’t know? Honestly, you’re just asking to sleep alone tonight!”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Comments are love <3


End file.
